BRZB’s double direction angular contact thrust ball bearings are engineered to have an appropriate operating preload when installed. The 23 series offers bearings with varying levels of preload:

Light preload, indicated by the suffix C8.

Heavy preload, indicated by the suffix C10.

The preload is established during the manufacturing process by meticulously adjusting the standout of the shaft washers or inner rings in relation to their corresponding housing washers or outer rings. These preload values are specified in the product table and are applicable to new, unmounted bearings. It’s crucial to keep bearing components and sets together as supplied and to mount them in the specified sequence. For more details, refer to the section on Markings on Bearings.

When these bearings are fitted onto a shaft seat machined to the recommended diameter tolerance, the result is a transition fit, which could either be a loose or an interference fit. A loose fit will have no impact on the preload, while an interference fit will increase it. For further information, consult SKF’s application engineering service.

The axial rigidity of a bearing is determined by its elastic deformation (deflection) under load and can be expressed as a load-to-deflection ratio. However, this relationship is nonlinear, so only approximate values are provided in the product table. These guideline values are relevant for bearings that are mounted, under static conditions, and subjected to moderate loads. For more precise calculations of axial rigidity, advanced computational methods can be employed. For additional details, consult BRZB’s application engineering service and refer to the section on Rigidity.